Florida

Florida is a parallel universe, where most people appear to be 55+...  I really enjoyed traveling through Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.  People there appeared to be very laid back, and the food was amazing!

When we crossed the Florida line, it seems like everyone and everything is in transition.  I think even the native Floridians (not sure I've met one yet...) are transient.  Acres being torn up for housing developments and gated communities.

The weather for the most part has been warm and humid.  But of course, reports of temps in the 40s with drizzle and snow have been reported by friends in the north.  I don't mind winter, just the length of it.

So anyway, we crossed the Florida-Georgia line and into the Kingdom of Grey.

The first stop was St. Augustine, I believe one of the oldest settlements in Norte Americano.

We stayed there, at Anastasia State Park, for two nights.  It was a nice campground, and we discovered the antidote for the humidity was the campground pool!  Oh sweet!

Then we drove down to Manatee Hammock Campground of Brevard County, near Titusville, which is near the Kennedy Space Center.  Having grown up in the era of space exploration I would have loved to tour the center, but the $50 admission fee was too steep.  Again, the campground pool was awesome.  We stayed there for three nights.

While we were here, we met up with Richie, a high school friend of Karen's.  They had not seen each other for decades.  He had recently retired after a career as a cook in NYC, had moved to Florida and adopted Sprocket, a very energetic Jack Russel terrier (is that a pronouncement from the Department of Redundancy Department???)  We had a fun evening, and Richie and I ended up playing some guitar blues together. Karen here: It was great to see you Richie! Life has surely brought us a long way...yet with its many highs and lows (literally and figuratively) we have done well. And by the way, the pork roast was awesome...mashed potatoes, well, just sayin. ;)

From left to right: Karen, Jim, Tank (aren't I so photogenic!), Kevin, Terri and Skip

From there we cut across the state from east coast to west to meet up with our friends Skip and Terri at the Rambler's Rest RV Park near Venice.  Skip's friend Kevin had just met up with them after driving Terri's pickup to Florida, towing Skip's work trailer filled with tools.

"Da Boyz"

 Again, three nights, with many a fine meal and some more music, this time by the LoveStrong Jammers: Karen, Skip and myself.

In transition we spent one night at a LaQuinta Inn in Naples.  It was our first night in a hotel in more than 3 months of traveling.  We picked LaQuinta because they are pet friendly.

 Take-out pizza from Red's Pizzeria, owned by a 23-year-old, and TV.  It always seems to be a good idea to watch some TV, but aside from some sports and some movies, it usually turns out to be a disappointment to me.  I can remember when I was a teacher, and would tell kids that I didn't watch TV, many of them couldn't even frame a response, so dumbfounded were they!

Then to the Keys!!  We have been pointing toward this for a long time. And it wouldn't be Florida without a gator...sitting by a pond by the gas station we stopped at to fill up. A small one though, only about 10 feet or so. ;) We were going to have Tank sit next to it for perspective, but...

 Many hours planning and many hours traveling...  and here we are!

Today is Thanksgiving and it's about 80 degrees and sunny here, with drizzle and snow up north!  It seems a bit unreal, but I'm grateful.  The day of gratitude...

More later...